Independence Day
by claihm solais
Summary: Just a few thoughts of what Independence Day means to the members of SG1.


Independence Day

A Stargate SG-1 fanfiction short piece

By Patrick Nguyen Huu

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1, or any of the related characters.

Pairing: None

Setting: Anywhere, really. Most likely mid-season 7.

Summary: Just a few thoughts from the members of SG-1 on their own independence day.

Independence Day

Jack glanced up at the sky. The stars were shining particularly bright today – he didn't even need his telescope to see many of them. He snorted softly. Astronomy had remained his passion, but the fascination it used to hold for him had been dulled over the years; after all, looking at the stars and wondering what was out there tended to loose its appeal when you travelled to other planets on a daily basis.

Other planets…Jack's thoughts turned sour. Other planets, where they had encountered the Goa'uld, who had enslaved and slaughtered millions of people. Other planets, where they had lost good men and women, where he'd lost too many friends to count – Charles Kawalsky, Henry Boyd and his team. The names and faces began to flash by his inner eye. Barber. Hawkins, Loder, Sanchez, and Rothman. Graham, Blasdale, Astor, Louis. Mansfield and Elliot.

And those were only the ones from the SGC. There were many more that had been lost in their struggle against the Goa'uld; Martouf and Lantash, Narim of the Tollan, and Sha're.

The thought of Sha're embittered Jack. It signified his failure, not only once, but twice. He had promised Daniel they would get Sha're back. He had sworn it to his friend many times when he'd found Daniel staring desolately into space, only his stubbornness keeping the archeologist from breaking out into tears. And he had failed him, failed his friend.

Sha're had died at Teal'c's hands, and while Daniel had accepted that the Jaffa had done the right thing and had forgiven him, Jack couldn't find it in himself to completely forgive Teal'c. He knew he was being irrational, that if it had been him in Teal'c's place he would have done the same, but a part of him couldn't forgive Teal'c for killing Sha're. While Sha're had been a host, she had been a captive to the symbiote within her, but at least she was still alive. And while she was alive, they had a chance of getting her back.

But now, she was dead. Other faces joined hers. Skaara. Kasuf. Tobay. The rest of the Abydonians who had become Daniel's family for the brief year he had lived with them, before his curiousity had drawn him back to the stars.

They, too, were all gone now, destroyed by the same people who had taken Daniel's wife. Oh, Apophis was long dead, but that didn't matter. Anubis was still a Goa'uld, and while Jack wasn't usually one to show prejudice, he was willing to bet his soul that there wasn't a single Goa'uld who did not want to control the galaxy.

Daniel had warned them, even helped them. Daniel…he had struggled against impossible odds, fighting against rules established by a race of what could only be called gods in order to help the Abydonians. He had risked eternal exile on some remote planet, or death, or whatever it was that the ascended used for punishment. He had risked it all to save his family.

And Jack had promised his help. Once again, Jack had sworn that no harm would come to the people of Abydos, that Anubis would not lay a hand on them. And now, Abydos was gone, and all the people dead. They might have been ascended by Oma Desala, but they had still died because of his failure.

Jack stood abruptly, smashing his fist into the wall. He continued to hammer away at the wall, never noticing the blood that had begun to stream down his hand and arm. He continued until the pain became unbearable.

When it finally did, he sank to the ground on his porch, a harsh, choked sob escaping his throat. He was tired of it, tired of it all. Tired of all the death and destruction the Goa'uld brought them, tired of watching friends walk to their deaths. Sometimes, he wished he had died on one of their missions; it would at least stop him from having to witness as the war slowly whittled away at all those people he knew, until, ultimately, he would be left all alone.

The distant sounds of fireworks and the light they cast across the sky caused him to look up. He had almost forgotten the date – it was the fourth of July. People were celebrating, happy and content in the knowledge that they were free.

Jack grew angry. Those people didn't know what their freedom had cost. They didn't know the price the men and women at the SGC paid every day for their continued safety and freedom. They didn't know the horrors of war. They didn't want to know, didn't care to know. All they cared about was their own happiness.

Days like these, he wished they had never opened the Stargate. They were now fighting a pointless war with a race that would quite happily wipe them from the face of the Earth given the chance because of it.

"Jack?"

The Air Force colonel startled at the sound of another voice, only to find Daniel sitting beside him on the porch. How or when his friend had gotten here, he didn't know.

"How'd you get in?"

Daniel jingled a set of keys in front of him. "You gave me a set of keys after I descended, remember?"

"Ah. So, whatcha doing here?"

"It's the fourth. We usually all go out for dinner today, remember?" Daniel looked at the older man oddly for a moment. "But when you didn't pick up the phone, Sam assumed that you'd made other plans, and cancelled the reservations."

"God, I'm sorry, Daniel. I forgot."

"I know." Daniel's voice softened. "I miss them."

"Hmm?"

Daniel leaned back, tilting his head to look at the stars. "I miss them. Sha're, and Skaara, and Kasuf, and Tobay. Kawalsky and Boyd. Graham and Hawkins."

"Yeah."

"We've lost so many people." Daniel sighed. "I didn't think I would, but I made a surprising number of friends at the base." He chuckled. "Imagine that, me, the geek, friends with tough-as-nails marines."

Jack cracked a small smile. For the first few years, that would have been an odd picture, indeed. That all had rapidly changed, however, when Daniel had proven his worth again and again.

"I miss them too," Jack told his friend.

"I know."

They lapsed into comfortable silence for a while, watching the fireworks. Jack was glad the darkness his his frown. His friend had been going through a lot recently, and there was no need to burden him with his load, as well.

"But I think they were glad to."

"What?" Jack turned at Daniel's sudden comment.

"I think they were glad to die," the archeologist clarified.

Jack suddenly found his anger returning. "How can you say that!"

The gentle smile on Daniel's face took the wind out of his sails before he could say anything else.

"We fight for a reason, Jack." Daniel raised a hand, tracing the constellations in the night sky. "We're fighting the Goa'uld, because they'd kill us all otherwise."

"You think I don't know that?" Jack snorted.

Again, Daniel smiled. "I think you know that all too well, Jack. But there's more to it than that. There's a reason the Jaffa go into battle crying 'Shal'kek nem'ron,' there's a reason why we opened the 'gate. There's a reason why we don't just close the 'gate and bury it again."

Jack mulled over those words for a moment. Daniel continued, not noticing or ignoring the thoughtful look on his friend's face.

"Freedom, Jack. The 'gate gives us ultimate freedom, to move across the stars. There's so many things out there to be learned, wonders to be found. Don't you see? We _had_ to open the 'gate. If not now, someone else would have, eventually, just because of what it symbolizes to us."

"Some freedom. It's earned us a fight for our lives."

"Yes, that's true. But I can't think of a better reason to fight, and die, for – can you?"

The oath he'd taken to defend his country suddenly hushed across Jack's thoughts. The oath to defend the innocent, and preserve their freedom and happiness. "It's cost us so much," he whispered.

"Yes, it has, but we're all here because we _want_ to be here. They gave their lives for ours, just as I would give mine for you, or Sam, or Teal'c, or Janet. I would give it gladly, without hesitation, because you're my friends, my family. And I'm sure they did, too." Daniel sighed. "Sometimes, freedom comes at a very high price."

"Do you think it's worth it?"

"Absolutely." The utter conviction in Daniel's voice helped lift Jack's spirit. "'I would rather die on my feet, than live on my knees.'"

"Charles Houston."

"Yeah."

"What about Sha're?"

Daniel sighed. "I love Sha're, and you of all people know how much it hurt when we lost her, but in the end, there's only two things that count – that she's happy, and that she's free. I had one whole year with the most perfect woman in the galaxy. I'd rather have had that one year and the pain of loosing her than never have met her at all. And in the end, she died free, Jack. She died free of Amonet's influence. She died happy, and that's all that matters."

He leaned back as the fireworks bathed the two in multi-colored light. "Look. They're celebrating their freedom. That's got you pretty upset, doesn't it?"

Jack remained silent, and Daniel took that as his cue to continue. "It's got you upset because they're sitting in the comfort of their homes, enjoying the fruit of our labors, and our blood. We spill our blood for them, and they will never know. Am I right?"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Not usually." Daniel smiled. "But what you need to remember is why we celebrate the fourth of July, why we celebrate our Independence Day. It's not to celebrate our freedom, it's to honor those who sacrificed for that freedom. We celebrate to honor those who have dedicated their lives to guarding ours. And I think _that_ deserves celebrating."

A smile slowly spread over Jack's face as the words sank in. "Maybe you're right. It's the least we can do for them." He rose to his feet. "I'm gonna call Carter and tell her to grab Teal'c at the base and come here. We already busted the dinner reservations, but who needs a fancy restaurant, anyway."

"All right. And Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy Fourth."

"Happy Fourth, Danny."


End file.
